The Right Time and Place in the Company of Dwarves
by The Winter Halcyon
Summary: When best friend summer camp counselors Sophie and Caroline are swept away during a night storm they find themselves at the edge of the Shire where they meet a mysterious man clad in grey wearing a heavy smile, they soon find themselves fighting wargs, flirting with elves, out witting goblins, and doing a whole lot of running.
1. Not Even Kids Like Summer Camp

**Chapter 1**

The 2014 Camp Shooster Sleep Away Camp for Youth had gone off without a hitch for Sophie Miller and Caroline Wolfe. They hadn't been nailed in the face with water balloons spiked with rocks, shoved off the dock into the waters of Lake Shooster with all their clothes on, or even dealt with shameful attempts of flirtation made by some fifteen year old who was attempting to woo the two girls and impress his juvenile friends. No this year was going to be much different. This year Sophie and Caroline were senior members of the staff, which meant minimal work on their part and a bigger pay check at the end of the month.

Only it would have meant a bigger pay check if they had been around to collect it...

**Caroline P.O.V**

I blew my whistle signaling that the little monsters, I mean campers, could go collect their arrows from the firing range. Once they were all back I half- heartedly blew the little silver whistle again, and the group of about twelve kids began to fire arrows at the mulit-colored once again. I sighed and let the whistle fall from my mouth to land on my chest held up by the leather cord strung around my neck.

'_Wow, I thought being a senior member this year would mean going out on the lake on the jet ski, or taking a nap in the 'special' hammock, not doing the same thing I did last year...' _I thought to myself, _'This sucks.'_

A rather annoyed 'ehem' brought me out of my own mind and back into reality. I looked down off the surveyor platform to see a kid about thirteen taping his foot below me, his arms crossed, no bow or arrows in sight. He looked like the kind of child that would rather be sitting at home in a recliner in front of a computer with a butler at his side fetching him whatever the heck he could think of, rather than here at a summer camp shooting bows and arrows and sleeping in cabins with no wifi.

"What is it?" I say trying to sound as nonchalant as I possibly could, while glancing at his t-shirt so I could see the name printed on his name tag, Maxwell. What a snobby name.

"The bow I was given has a defect, it won't shoot the arrows into the target and it keeps hitting my arms giving me these hideous marks," He then unfolds his arms, which look more like porcelain noodles to me, and angles them so the bottom of them are faced up so I could see the rising red welts forming on both his arms.

I take in a breath and run my hand through my hair to grab the base of my pony tail, I then let the breath out and flick my wrist so my pony tail swished up and lands against my neck, "Fine I'll show you how to do it again Max." I say as I grip the top railing of the tower and use it to swing the four or five feet down to the ground and begin to walk to the only empty station where a bow hand been tossed to the ground.

He scoffs at me, "My name is Maxwell, not Max," and lets out a 'tch' then follows me to the station he abandoned.

I pick up the bow and notch an arrow, it's way too small for me and I'm not even able to bring the string of the bow anywhere near the base of my jaw where it should be. The target is only about fifteen feet away and all the other kids seem to have no problem whatsoever hitting it even if it's only the edge, which means it should be a breeze for me to hit somewhere near the yellow center. Once I feel as if I've lined the shot up as best as I could I uncurl my fingers from the string and the arrow flies faster than my eyes could follow it. I hear a _thud _not a second later and see that the arrow has landed in the red ring closest to the yellow.

"It looks pretty not defective to me," I say handing the bow to the kid standing beside me. He looks like he wants to be impressed but has decided I'm not worth wasting the breath on, "Now you try it so I can see what I can fix."

Maxwell scoffs again but takes the bow and notches an arrow bringing it to his nose.

"Ok first you should have three fingers on the string not all five and only to the first knuckle," I say then demonstrate on an imaginary bow; Maxwell complies and adjusts to my advice. "Now pull the string back further, try to get it to your jaw," I explain he opens his mouth to say something then closes it and pulls the arrow to his jaw, " Good now line up your shot along the shaft and let it loose, and take take your time it's not a race."

His face scrunches up as he concentrates on the target, then lets his fingers go, the arrow along with it. The _thud_ sound is heard again and when Maxwell sees where it landed he jumps and fist pumps the air, he's gotten a bull's eye.

I fold my arms and mutter under my breath, "Kids lucky he's got such a great teacher like me."

The other eleven kids look over to see what Max is jumping about and just about loses it along with him when they see his arrow sticking straight out of the center of the target. They run over and start yammering.

"How did you do that?"

"Can you teach me to do that Maxwell? Pretty please?"

"Oh please it was probably the hot counselor that did it for him."

And on that last comment I clapped my hand then picked up my whistle and blew into the small silver instrument, "Ok tiny children back to your stations, go get your arrows and keep at it." They groaned then went to the stations all in hopes of getting a bull's eye just like Maxwell. When they were all shooting again I went back to the platform and climbed back onto its height so I could keep an eye on the group of children basally training to kill things with two sticks and a string like they were in some medieval battle movie.

"Man now _that _would suck," I say to myself, "Being in some crazy battle or something with only a bow and arrow. Who would be that stupid?" I laugh at my own hilarity and go back to making sure the campers don't point the arrows at each other.

This goes on for about another twenty minutes until a loud fire truck siren blare over the loud speakers signaling everybody that dinner is ready and its tome to chow down on some good old fashioned camping food. I rush over to the shed that hold all the archery equipment and try to get the kids to orderly place the bows on hooks and the arrows in bins. Needless to say I fail miserably and am left with a mess of bows and arrows strewn all about the ground.

"I am never ever going to ever have children if they all act like this!" I growl though clenched teeth then bend down to begin cleaning up the mass of equipment.

I hear snickering behind me and turn to see my best friend in the entire world leaning against the cream metal shed, "How's it going there miss grumpy buns?" she says a smile plastered on her face from ear to ear.

"Ha ha Sophie, very funny but at least I don't walk like I have a stick up my butt all day." I say back.

She gasps and dramatically holds a hand to her chest, "You wound me with thine words good lady! How shall I cope knowing the world can observe the thought of a stick up my bottom in their minds? The embarrassment shall be the death of me!" By now she was lying on the ground her hand against her forehead, "Leave me my dear friend else the embarrassment shall spread to you too!" she coughs, "You must *cough* go on. Without. Me!" she whispers before falling fully on the ground not moving.

"So, you done with your thespian fit yet?" I ask raising an eyebrow.

Sophie laughed and struggled to get up; I walk over and help her get to her feet. She places a hand on her lower back and lets out a groan, "Those horses are going to be the real death of me, I mean Lauren can't expect me to do this every day for the rest of the summer can she?"

"She's the big bad boss, and we are just simple simpletons under her iron fist of summer camp."

"That just about wraps her up." Sophie laughs. "So you want help putting all, well, this away.' She says gesturing to the archery equipment.

"Would you? The little monsters kinda just chucked them around expecting me to take care of it all. Like I know it's my job but they could be a little bit considerate, ya know?" I ask while bending down to grab a hand full of arrows.

"I know, those poor horses probably want to just buck every kid that attempt to get on their back and pretend like they know what their doing, when in fact they do not." Sophie said a matter of factly while taking the arrows from my hand to put them in one of the four buckets that lined the wall meant specifically for the arrows.

"But hey at least were not working at fast food."

"Or being a janitor, cleaning up after other people and being in school all summer is not my idea of a good time." Sophie stated.

"Uh Soph, we're still cleaning up after people just in the great outdoors instead of some educational prison." I said back.

"I know that Care, but it's still better. I mean I seriously can't imagine us scraping gum off the bottom of desks, it's just gross and people should know better." She said putting the final bow in its place on one of the few remaining hooks in the shed. "We're missing one."

I look into the shed to see that we are in fact one retched dinky little bow short, "Crap, we'll have to look for it after dinner or else Lauren will skin us and turn us into shoes."

"But only after she gives the lecture of a life time!" Sophie jokes.

I laugh then hold out my arm, "Well, shall we go to dinner?"

Sophie giggles then loops her arm through mine, "I do think I am in the mood for a well-deserved hot dog this night."

We both laugh some more then begin the walk over to the dining hall which is already packed with hungry children. 

**AN: So this will be my first official fanfiction it may seem a little slow in my opinion at first but I promise they will get to Middle Earth in either the next chapter or the one after that also just for reference both Sophie and Caroline are 19 because I'm not sure if I could really ever get their ages into context for a while and I wanted to get that out of the way. So I hope you like it and keep reading.**


	2. Freak Storms Are The Worst

**Chapter 2**

**Sophie P.O.V**

I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up on getting some awesome hot dog with everything I like on it and a bag of chips too. No by the time Caroline and I got there all the little munchkins had ravaged the place barley leaving a speck of bread and not a bag of chips to be seen.

My face fell from its usual happy smile filled with sunshine to that of disappointment, I love hot dogs and now I wouldn't be able to enjoy their taste until next Friday. Caroline glanced over at me and let out a sigh.

"Come on, I have some granola bars in my bag back in the cabin we can munch on, and we can get some water bottles from Cook so we don't suffocate ourselves trying to swallow dry granola."

She tugged at my arm and my smile returned slightly, that's Caroline for ya always taking care of me ever since we were kids. We walked through the **"Staff Only" **door leading back into the kitchen and each grabbed a water bottle from the cooler then shut the lid before any more coldness could escape. Caroline rolled her eyes at me, "You do know that the same amount of cold will escape from the time you open it to the time you close it right?"

I smile then reply, "Ya it's just a habit from my mom always telling me to never keep the fridge or freezer open for too long, especially in the summer."

Caroline sighs again, "Ya I know, now let's get to the cabin it's starting to get dark and I want my hoodie before the mosquitos start eating my arms alive."

I nod and Caroline starts walking out of the kitchen, I start following her when I see something move in the corner of my eye. Turning quickly I scan over the totally empty kitchen.

"Are you coming?" I hear Caroline ask from behind me.

"Ya just a second, I thought I saw something." I reply over my shoulder my eyes never ceasing to look over the kitchen.

After a few seconds I shake my head and decide to blame it on the diminishing light of the day, forcing ordinary shadows to look like something else. Turning away I walk to the door frame where Caroline is leaning against the smoothed wood casually sipping water from her water bottle. She straightens herself by pushing off the frame with her shoulder and walks through. As I follow behind her I can't shake the feeling like there was _something_ or perhaps _someone _watching us while we were in the kitchen.

When we get back to the staff cabin we share with four other girls, we barley have time to take of our boots, open Caroline's bag to get some granola bars and get on the bunk bed we shared before Lauren's shadow fills the screen door before slamming it open. Our heads snap up to see our middle aged boss standing in our door way arms folded, eyes dull, and her mouth in its signature frown. Caroline and I look at each other sharing in the mutual thought of, _what could she possibly want now?_

"Tyler just informed me that the canoes down by the southern side of the lake were never tied down before dinner and the forecast calls for a storm sometime after midnight tonight, I would have him do it but he's busy cleaning up after dinner." Lauren stated.

"We didn't even get dinner though." I mutter.

Lauren glared at me then continued, "That your own fault Sophie, so I need you two to go down and tie the canoes up so they don't float away during the storm."

"But I just took my boots off." I said.

"Lauren," Caroline said flatly, "It's an hour hike to the southern docks and-."

"You can take one of the golf carts," She interrupted and threw a set of keys from her pocket to Carline who caught them one handed nearly falling over in the process to catch the falling keys. "Just make sure they won't float away, or else you will be the ones going to find them in the morning." She then began to walk out of the cabin before stopping, "Oh and you guys are scheduled for fire time again tonight be sure to be there heaven forbid we let those rich kids get their hands dirty making a s'more." Then disappeared out of the cabin.

I sigh and slump further against the bunk beds mattress, "At least we don't have to walk? Right?"

Caroline let out what seemed to be a pained laugh, "I guess," Then jumped down off the top bunk, slipped a light blue Camp Shooster hoodie, and shoved a granola bar in its front pocket, "Let's get this over with."

I moan and turn over in my bed, "Ugh fine." I let myself fall off the side of the bunk where I grab my own hoodie from beneath the bunk.

"Soph that's nasty, there are probably mice and cockroaches crawling around down there." I hear Caroline say as she pulls her own boots on over her jeans.

"I know," I declared, "I'm just so tired after doing stuff all day I just flop down and go to sleep every night then wake up and it's gone and disappeared under my bed every night."

Caroline laughs then tightened her blonde ponytail, "Riiight, come on I'm already ready to go and you're lazing around on the floor."

"I'm coming, I'm coming. Just wait a few more seconds." I hear Caroline let out a low chuckle and decide to push myself up and put my hoodie on.

Striding over to the front door I grab my black zip up boots and stick my right foot in making sure to shove the ends of my pants in them, and then repeat the process with my left foot.

"Ok we can go now, happy?" I ask sarcastically.

"Very," Caroline says with a corner of her mouth hooked up, "Now let's go even with the golf cart it's still a fifteen minute drive."

We exit the cabin and make our way to the side of the dining hall where the golf carts are chained up to their own individual 'U' post. Caroline spins the keys in her hand until the small green painted key in between her thumb and pointer finger. She unlocks the front of the cart and we both get in the small vehicle, Caroline in the driver's seat and me in the passenger seat. The blonde starts up the engine and put the cart in reverse then back into drive, and we start to make out way down the path to the south docks of the lake.

Caroline was wrong. It took us almost thirty minutes to get to the lake and by then dark clouds were swirling above our heads and in the distance the defining roll of thunder could be heard followed by flashes of lightening. A few times I could have sworn I saw red in the lightening, instead of the usual yellow-whiteness.

"Did you see it that time?" I asked Caroline as I pointed to the sky where another flash of that red lightening had appeared then snapped away.

"Soph, first of all I'm trying to drive, and second it was probably just a trick of the light like what you saw in the kitchen earlier." She stated trying to sound factual.

"Ok maybe I didn't see anything in the kitchen but I swear the lightening _is_ red." I said for about the twentieth time in the past half hour.

"Sure Soph, but leave your red lightening alone for a few minutes were here." I looked down from the ever darkening sky to see the lake right in form of us the dock littered with green canoes poorly tied to the sturdy wooden dock. "They didn't even take them out of the lake? Tyler usually isn't that irresponsible." Caroline said.

"That is weird. You get the backs and I'll get the fronts?" I offer suggested a bit timidly.

Caroline just looks skeptically at me, "No offence Sophie but you aren't exactly the strongest person in the world. I'll bring them around and you use that brain of yours to tie them securely to dry land." She proposed while flicking my forehead.

"Deal. Let's get to work!" I said in agreement. Truth be told I am pretty much a weakling so I was hoping Caroline would say something along those lines.

Caroline then walked to the dock and easily untied the sloppy knots barely holding the canoes in place and dragged the first one through the water walking along the shore giving ample room for the other fourteen canoes. Once she had gone a ways down the shore she flipped the canoe over and drug it the rest of the way up the shore until it was completely out of the water.

While she was doing that I decided to organize the ores and life jacket into the bins chained to slabs of concrete. Neatly stacking the ridiculously orange jackets in one of the bins and lining up the ores in the other. That didn't take up that much time and when I looked over at Caroline she was already dragging the eighth canoe onto the shore.

"I think we should be able to tie five together," she started as she walked over the get the ninth one, "That way we'll have three groups of five, and if Lauren or Tyler say we did it wrong then oh well."

"Sounds like a plan," I reply giving a thumb up. Caroline returns the gesture a little less enthusiastic and goes back to dragging the canoe to the others.

Out of nowhere a gust of wind rushes though nearly nocking myself over followed by another drum of thunder and that mysterious red lightening.

"There!" I rave, "it's right there!" I yell at Caroline while pointing to the sky where the lightening had just disappeared. I look to the canoes still pointing to the sky to see Caroline laying in one the plastic green boats her legs hanging over the edge at her knees. I gasp," Are you ok?" I say as I rush to help her up.

The look on her face is priceless and I wish I had a camera to remember the moment forever; honestly she looks like she's seen my dad in nothing but his underwear.

"So did you see it?" I ask as I grab one of her arms to help her up from her predicament, "Please tell me you saw it."

She doesn't say anything at first then nods, "Ya I saw it. Red just like you said." She says shakily while standing up. "But that's not possible, lightening can't be red, like this isn't some kind of magical movie or book where stuff like red lightening just appears."

"I don't like begin out here, lets hurry and finish up here so we can get back and have some s'mores."

"That is a wonderful plan Soph."

Dragging the rest of the canoes onto the shore didn't take too much longer and we only had one left. I had figured out a way to loop the dock rope through a ring on the front of the canoes so they wouldn't get blown or washed away. But in the time it took us to finish the task the wind had picked up and it had started to rain; hard. It whipped around my face the wind stinging my face as it sliced through the air. Caroline wasn't fairing much better and was struggling to get the last canoe onto the shore it kept slipping though her fingers and the bottom half of her pants and boots were soaking wet from running into the lake to grab the side of the canoe to keep it from drifting out to the lake. The rain was pelting against our faces and the hood of my hoodie kept blowing off so I just gave in and let it flap crazily against my neck.

"That's the last one!" Caroline yelled trying to be heard above the raging storm her blonde ponytail whipping against her cheek.

"Thank goodness!" I yelled back as I strung the rope through the last loop and tied it off., "I thought the storm wasn't supposed to come until after midnight?"

"Never question mother nature Soph! She kind of does whatever she feels like!" she helped me up and we began to run to where we had parked the golf cart, and that's when I saw the shadow again this time far more defined.

"Wait!" I bellowed, grabbing Caroline's arm to make her stop.

"Sophie! What is it this time!"

"The shadow I saw in the kitchen it's out on the lake!" I cried, turning my head to see the still shadowy figure floating just above the surface of the water seemingly not affected by the rampant storm going on around it. "You saw the lightening just look! It's there I promise!"

Caroline rolled her eyes and let out a sound I can only guess to be a growl, "Soph there's nothing there but murky water being thrown around by this storm, now let's go!"

She grabbed my arm around my non-existent bicep and started to trek through the wind and rain toward the golf cart. I didn't look away from the figure, as I was dragged away from the lake. The figure didn't seem to like this and raised what I would guess to be arms. As soon as it did that the storm picked up even more if that even possible. Caroline was having a hard time walking in a straight line with the wind trying to rip her in every direction.

I put my arm not currently in the iron grasps of Caroline and used it to shield my eyes trying to keep the eerie shadow in my sigh only to be met with a wall of wind swirling around us. The storm certainly had picked up, and I had a feeling it was about to pick us up right along with it.

Not but a second later I couldn't feel the ground beneath my boots, I looked down to see that we were beginning to swirl around with the wind.

I screamed and pulled myself closer to Caroline, locking my fingers around her wrist.

We rose higher and higher into the swirling wind until the green canoes looks like a little patch of bushes and the cabins back at the camp grounds could be seen the lights from inside them like little flickering firefly's.

By now we were both screaming at the top of our lungs as they were flung every which way in the vortex. The figure no longer visible above the violent black waters of Lake Shooser. Then as suddenly as the winds picked us up they ceased abruptly, we stayed in place in the sky for a moment before gravity remembered its job and we began to free fall back to the earth.

I could hear the blood pumping through my ears faster and faster as the ground became closer. My vision became spotted with black dots and I can vaguely hear Caroline screaming my name before I completely black out losing all sense of sight. I can feel myself falling into unconsciousness when there's a slight pressure around my chest and stomach. Then. Nothing.

**A/N: Muahahaha cliff hanger, I'll try not to do too many of those but I make no promises. Also I probably won't be updating every day I just really had to get this written down before I lost it in my mind. But I will be starting my senior year of high school tomorrow so updates will probably be a lot less frequent but I will be working on it I promises. Don't forget to review because they let me know what I can to better and they just make me happy so yes review! **


	3. Middle What?

**So I probs should have done this sooner but my brain is working a millions miles an hour and I kind of spaced it**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any form of The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings or any other reference I may make while writing this. They belong to their respective creators and especially Mr. J.R.R. Tolkien and Mr. Peter Jackson.**

**Chapter 3**

**Caroline P.O.V.**

"_**Sophie!" **_ I scream.

We had been separated in the very moment before the whirlwind died down, but that moment was all the wind needed to toss Sophie and her near unconscious body away from me. I started to fall towards the ground but for some reason Sophie was just floating there like she was being held in place by some invisible force, probably that stupid figure she kept going on about. Her body was soon far above my own which just kept falling closer and closer the earth wind rushing past me sucking the air from my lungs.

I nearly collided with the ground when I was suddenly jerked back a firm compression pressing into my abdomen. My head hit something hard and the world around me started to go all fuzzy as spots of darkness began to take over my vision. I turned my head to see, nothing. ' _I'm not even going to know what saved me..._' I think before I become limp, my sight completely black as the world around me became no more.

* * *

_Blue...Soft...Light...Warm...Wait? How can it be warm when I was just in a freezing gale force storm? Wait storm? Sophie..._

I jolt awake, eyes wide, and shoot up from my position lying in the dirt, only to be forced back down by a burning pain in my head and across my chest and stomach. I turn my head to see Sophie laying a few feet to my left behind a few rows of; Corn? Looking from my position on the ground I instantly know we are no longer anywhere near the campgrounds or the lake for that matter. All around us there's corn. A whole lot of corn, and there is absolutely _no _corn in Oregon where Camo Shooster was located. I try again to get up this time more slowly making sure to keep pain from erupting over my abdomen again.

The corn is above my head by a few inches which means Sophie will be dwarfed by the towering vegetable, so jumping to see any way out is not an option with the pain going through my body right now. I try to dust off any dirt that may have stuck to my clothes while I was on the ground; only to realize I was soaking wet and the dirt that had stuck was now mud.

"Great." I grumble to myself, "Soaking wet, muddy, and I don't know where we are, but at least I don't have to go looking for Sophie." I attempt to get the mud off my back and pain buds across my stomach again. Groaning I lift up the bottom of my hoodie and the tank top beneath it to see a long red mark running diagonally across my stomach, from the pain also in my chest I conclude that there's an identical blot of red there too.

"And now I have two giant welts from who knows where." I mutter then remember what had happed what seemed to be only minutes ago. _'Something saved me and left these marks, probably explains my head too.' _Carefully I bring a hand to my forehead where I'm sure a nasty mark has formed; gingerly I apply pressure to it. '_It doesn't hurt too much so I probably don't have a concussion.'_

I take a breath then let it go slowly, and walk over to Sophie's unconscious form.

"Hey, lazy butt get up." I drone.

She doesn't even stir, not even a little bit so I decide to go a little bigger with my attempt to wake her up. I tap my foot against her damp hoody covered shoulder hoping to bring her out of her freak storm induced slumber. When that doesn't work I resort to something truly shocking that I'm sure will wake her up. Taking extra caution due to my injured abdomen I crouch bedside her and bring my lips to her ear.

"Hey Sophie," I whisper, "Remember when I canceled our weekly movie night last year in April? It was because won tickets to hang out with Chris Hemsworth at a radio station interview."

I leaned back to see her eyelids fluttering, "And we ate lobster, and it was delicious."

Her eyes opened fully at that, she then turned her head in the dirt to look at me, "You told me your neighbor's dog got hit by a car and you had to take it to the animal hospital because they weren't home."

I smirked then pushed on my knees to help me stand up, "Well I only won one ticked and you are a sucker for sad animal stories."

The brunet girl stayed silent and chewed her bottom lip for a moment then got up from the puddle of mud pooled around her, "You better have gotten his signature for me or something, and I wish you had choked on that lobster."

I snickered and helped her flick mud from her pants and hoodie, "It was for your twentieth birthday, but since the secrets out now so I guess I'm going to have to keep it."

She looked at me slightly panicked, "I have now forgotten everything that has just transpired in the past," she paused to recollect the time that had passed, "Like two minutes." Only then did she seem to register that we were no longer anywhere we recognized. "Um... Where are we?"

I shrugged, "No clue last I remember I was falling to my imminent death when something grabbed my around my stomach, after that I think I hit my head and pretty much blacked out after that."

Sophie nodded in agreement, "Same," she looked around like I had done when I first woke up then jumped up a little. She didn't seem to have any sort of injury based on the little jump she had just given _'Screw her and her luck'_. "I can't see why don't you give it a try?"

Groaning a bit I lifted up my tops again to show Sophie the marks she clearly didn't share with me from our '_savior'_.

"What happened?" she gasped then reached out a hand to touch the mark.

Stepping back I moved out of her hands prodding reach, "Don't touch it!"

"Oh sorry, what happened? You didn't have that when we were tying the canoes up."

"I think the, well, the whatever it was that saved us may have done a bit more harm than it meant to when it stopped me from becoming a forest floor pancake." I explained. "So I'm going to try to take it easy while these heal." I gesture to my stomach.

Sophie smiled, "That sounds like a plan to me. Walking it is then." She then looked around then landed on the sky her hand against her eyebrows to shield her eyes form the suns glare. "The sun rises in the east right?" I think for a second then nod, "And it looks like the sun is still rising, I don't know where we are but going west sounds better than anywhere else."

I give her a quizzical look, eyebrow raised and mouth scrunched, my hip popped out to one side, "What makes west so great."

"We won't have to walk into the sun for a while."

I make a _hmm_ of agreement and shrug my shoulders, "Sounds like as good a plan as any, shall we?"

"We shall," We high-fived then started walking in the direction Sophie said was west.

* * *

We eventually walked right out of the cornfield and found ourselves in a thin grouping of green trees, if you could even call it that. It was more like a cluster of trees every once in a while with lengthy patches of tall golden grass in-between said clusters. We decided to take our hoodies off to dry as soon as we were out of the cornfield, they were still a bit damp but so was the rest of our clothes especially our jeans. Fortunately the mud had dried and once it did we dusted and scraped it off with our fingernails leaving little discolored patches all over our attire. Our conversations had also died down, there really wasn't too much to talk about after we covered the fact we were nowhere near Camp Shooster anymore for the billionth time. So far this little adventure we'd been swept up on was pretty boring and uneventful.

"Maybe west wasn't such a great idea..." Sophie muttered suddenly out of the blue, her smile had faded hours ago and her face hung in a sort of resting expression.

"Why not?" I ask turning my head to look at her.

She seemed to gather her thoughts before saying, "We've been walking for hours and we haven't seen a single other person, and there hasn't even been sign that we're even walking towards anything."

"Well we've walked too far to go back to that cornfield," I replied, "And just wait I bet there's a road just over that hill so let just keep walking." I said trying to comfort my friend while pointing to a rather grassy hill that didn't seem too much further._ 'She has quite the brain but always doubts it once something doesn't have an immediate result, then goes to trying to be an air headed girl trying to rely on her looks_.'

Sophie nods her smile renewed to its glowing glory, "Fine but if there isn't you have to give me that granola bar I know you still have in your hoodie pocket."

I grin, "You're on. It may be a bit soggy but if you want it you can have it."

That renewed our spirits and we walked a bit faster to our destination. The hill really did end up not too far away and didn't take too long until we were about to crest it's top. I held my breath and glanced at Sophie, she was a bit ahead of me up the mound of dirt and grass and had a determined smile, clearly she really wanted there to be a road on the other side of that hill. Suddenly she stopped dead in her tracks right at the top.

"What is it?" I asked.

She didn't reply. I rolled my eyes and mad my way the rest of the way up the hill to stand beside my chocolate haired friend. Once at the top I saw what Sophie had stopped for. A dirt path.

"Caroline. Have I ever told you how much I love your fake psychic ability's?" she asked turning her head to look at me.

"You could stand to mention it more." I say as I dig my hand though the hoodie pocket to get the granola bar. "Looks like I get to keep my soggy granola bar."

I wave the granola bar around her face filled with distraught, then with a flick of my wrist I toss it up into the air and start down the hill to the path. Behind me I hear the familiar _crinkling_ of the protective colorful plastic being ripped and shoved back to reveal the delicious honey and oatmeal with almond bar of absolute delciousness. I almost regret giving it to Sophie even if it was a bit waterlogged; I mean I _did _win our little bet even if it was by pure luck. Ya I really want that granola bar now. Sighing, I make my way though the now almost cleanly cut emerald grass and stop beneath the shade of a towering oak tree atop a ledge around three feet above the path.

"Are we stopping?" Sophie asks from behind me nearly making me jump. I didn't even hear her walk up behind me, _'Maybe this head injury is worse than I thought if Ms. I-trip-over-a-crack-in-the-cement can sneak up on me without even meaning to.' _My shoulders shiver at the thought, and I rub my hands along the length of both of my arms to get rid of the small bumps than now covered my skin.

"That may be for the best, and we are underneath this gorgeous tree so why not." I answered with a slight backwards nod towards the inviting ground beneath the tree.

Sophie smiles even brighter and plops down between two of the trees roots that have grown out making a perfect spot for someone small like her to have a comfortable seat. I take up a spot to her right where the roots are a bit bumpier but not too much that they are intolerable and lay my hoodie out to cushion the ground bit more. Leaning back against the old trees richly barked trunk and lift up my tank top again to see that the red marks from earlier today had faded considerably. Relief washed over me and I close my eyes and took in a deep breath then let it go.

'_This is nice, I can't remember the last time I just sat and just did nothing.' _I allowed myself another few minutes of closed eyes before a low and gruff _'Ahem' _interrupted my moment of relaxation.

'_Oh no. I hope Max didn't get sucked into that whirlwind with us. Please let it not be Max...'_

Slowly I open an eye, and then open the other to make sure what I was seeing was real.

Down on the worn dirt path was an old man smiling slightly dressed head to toe in draping grey robes that looked like he had just thrown them over his shoulders and decided to call it good. He had long white hair with strands of grey swept behind his broad shoulders. A long sweeping silvery beard graced his face and a pointy dull blue hat made him look as if he could be some great wizard from a fairy tale; complete with a damsel in distress held captive by an evil dragon. But his eyes were what really caught my attention, they were fairly dark in color, but gave me the impression that they could burst to life like a spark of fire at any given moment. In one hand was a gnarled brown walking stick that twisted around itself at the top to form a sort of elegant knot.

I cleared my throat and straightened up from my slumped position against the tree, "Um. Hello?" I said trying not to sound confused or startled but as soon as I answered his _'ahem'_ in the exact way I was trying to avoid I wanted to slap myself.

The grey robed man chuckled, his wide shoulders moving along with the rich sound coming from his mouth.

"Hello indeed my dear." He replied in the same gruff yet comforting voice, "A fine day to sit beneath the shade of a tree isn't it?"

"I guess so," I agreed,_ 'Whats an old man doing going walking around a forest on a dirt path?'_ and then quickly add, "But we're not staying long. Probably just a few more minutes."

"Oh?" He chirped, "Your friend seems to disagree with that." Then gave a nod to my left where Sophie was sitting.

I sat and stared at him for a moment then turned to see my longhaired brunette friend who looked to be fast asleep; her face scrunched up against the bark with her shoulders drooping against the rest of her. '_Way to leave me hanging here with some old man Soph.' _

"Well we _were _going to be on our way soon, but I guess sitting her isn't too awful." I shrugged.

The old man chuckled again then asked, "And where is it that you might be going?" he then raised a snowy eyebrow, "Surly not the Shire, there isn't a soul a human like you and your friend would know in a place where only hobbits are to be found. And Bree is in the opposite direction you've walked from."

'_The Shire? Bree? Hobbits?! What the heck is this guy talking about?'_

"U-um, I'm not sure," I stammered, "We were just kind of walking hoping to find somebody to ask where we were to be honest." My head sunk a bit and I cast my eyes down so I wouldn't have to look at his seemingly all-knowing gaze.

He then dropped a draping of worn grey fabric wrapped around his left arm and grasped the walking stick just below his other hand.

"You mean to tell me you've no idea where you and your friend are?" he asked, almost as if he had suddenly become quite concerned with our predicament in the last five sconds.

My mouth hung slightly open as I stared at this peculiar old man. _'What should I say? "No you old bat we were sucked into a frekin tornado by, according to Sophie, a _mysterious shadow_ then _saved, if_ you could even call it that, by an equally mysterious something only to wake up in a corn field of all things and have been wandering through fields all day of course we don't know where we are!"'_

"Yes." I blurted out before anything I had been thinking could escape my mind and come out of my mouth.

The old man didn't look surprised at all, but brought a hand to his face to methodically stroke his long silver beard as if in thought but he gave no hint as to what those thoughts may be. Not even a glint of shock shone in his eyes; instead he gave another warm smile that seemed to have something hidden behind it that, and returned his hand to the wooden stick.

"Wait. Why am I even telling you this? For all I know you could be some murder or a kidnapper of young and alone girls." I blurted then stood up to tower well over the man due to the ledge that above the path. That got a reaction out the old man; he almost looked offended and perhaps even a little angry. Beside me Sophie began to wake up from her short nap her eyes quivering open.

"Caroline? Why are you standing?" She asked as she combed through her hair with her fingers. She then noticed the bearded stranger. "Who's that?"

"A very good question." The man said before I could answer, his voice slightly raised, "I am Gandalf the Grey on of the five Istari, and never in all my years have I ever been accused of _murder _or _kidnapping,"_ he paused and looked at me as if to reassure me he was neither of those things then continued his voice softer than the bold one he had used just moments before, "And to answer the question as to where you two young women are you are currently on the eastern border of Hobbiton, which happens to be quite a lovely little town inside the Shire."

"So were in 'The Shire'" I ask bluntly, not really believing a word coming out of this man's mouth, who would when you have a name like Gandalf? "I've never heard of it. Which state is it in?"

Gandalf looked puzzled at my question, "Its state is one of happiness, and nowhere else in all of Middle Earth will you find a place like it." He stated quite eloquently

I huff out a breath, _'Is he serious?' _ "That. Is not what I meant."

I feel a hand on my wrist, "Care. Let's be nice to the only person we've come across in hours shall we?" Sophie said through clenched teeth, then turned to Gandalf, "You'll have to excuse whatever my friend Caroline here may have said, we've had an interesting couple hours recently and we're just trying to figure a few things out." Standing up fully Sophie walked to the edge of the meager ledge and hopped down it to stand in front of our new 'friend' her hoodie tucked into the crook of her arm.

"It would be my pleasure to answer any questions you may have to my fullest ability." He said giving a slight bow from his waist to Sophie.

Sophie giggled slightly at the unusual gesture which in turn made Gandalf chuckle. "Come on Care."

"I must insist we walk though, I was on my way to lead a company to a dear friend's house when I came across you two beneath this tree." He gestured to the leafy green tree with his walking stick, and began down the path, Sophie right beside him.

Sighing I grabbed my now dirt ridden hoodie and decided to pull it on then followed Sophie's lead off the ledge and landed on the soft brown dirt. Jogging slightly I caught up to the odd duo and took a place to flank Gandalf, Sophie on his other side.

"Now where shall we begin?" he asked all signs of his slight anger now washed away in a warm smile.

"Well," Sophie started, "You mentioned the Shire?" Gandalf nodded. "Where exactly _is_ the Shire?"

He thought for a moment before answering, "The Shire is the abiding place for a group of rather small people called hobbits." he began, "It lies far to the east of other civilizations such as Rohan and Gondor so many don't even know of their existence because they tend to stray from oursiders. But make no mistake hobbits are rather welcoming once they get to know you."

"Hobbits sound wonderful," Sophie commented, " And those other two, what are they?" she asked.

"Ah yes, Rohan is the land of the horse lords, they are people of the open fields where they can ride their great beasts of war to their hearts content. Practically becoming one with the wind if they urge their horses to truly run." The look in his eyes when he said that makes him look like he was fairly familiar to this 'Rohan'.

"Horses Soph, you'd fit right in there." I said with a smirk.

Sophie smiled, "Oh you know it! Even if they do make me sore and walk funny."

"You are a horse-woman?" Gandalf asked glancing at Spophie

"Ya," she said, "back where we're from I was the head of the trail rides at the summer camp where both Caroline and I worked."

"Well you would fit in quite well in their ranks then." He stated. "Strong women are the foundation of Rohan."

Sophie blushed a bit at his compliment, "No if you want a strong woman you'd have to go to Caroline she's the muscle of our little duo.

Gandalf then looked back to me and I glared back to Sophie, "Oh?" he asked.

"Sophie here is exaggerating, being able to drag canoes across a shore and draw back an arrow don't really count as being a 'strong woman'." I practically growl.

Gandalf raised an eyebrow from beneath the brim of his hat them _hmmmd _again.

"Okaaay then." Sophie said changing the subject back to 'Middle Earth', "What about the other one? Gone-something."

"Gondor," he corrected, "Its lands are vast and full of a rich history of rightful kings and at its heart lays the white city of Minas Tirith."

"Everything here sounds like a dream." Sophie commented.

"One far too good to be true." I mumbled still a little annoyed.

Apparently Gandalf heard me, "Oh believe me," he said gravely, "These lands have their dark spots as well. Mordor, Dulgur Dur, and the lands to the south, all are places you do not want to find yourself in."

The mood of the walk instantly darkened, as if Gandalf words had a physical impact on the world around us. Sophie looked down to stare at her moving feet, and I glanced to look at then green landscape to my right that suddenly became rather enthralling. Gandalf instantly picked up on our discomfort and let out wheeze of air.

"Well don't let the bad things in the world dampen the good, light will always conquer darkness." Gandalf crooned, "Now anymore questions?"

Sophie stayed silent then she shook her head, "I think I'm good for now. What about you Care?"

"How did we get here." I asked without hesitation making it sound more like a statement rather than a question.

Gandalf's mouth hung slightly open and he adjusted his pointy hat, "I've no answer to that question. It seems to be one that will answer its self in time."

"So you don't know?"

He paused again and let out a breath, "No I do not, but there are those who might."

"Well can we meet them? Then we can find a way to get back to where were from." I snap.

Gandalf turned to look at me, "Perhaps, if he allows it." he then swept up his draping grey robes around his left arm so he could take longer strides, "Now let us make haste we are just about to where the company I'm meeting should be."

Sophie merely smiled and picked up her pace to keep up with Gandalf, while I decided to hang back a bit to try and process what 'Gandaf the Grey' had just told us.

'_So we're not even on Earth anymore? How can Sophie be so calm about all of this! She's probably freaking out on the inside. We are in some other world after all, that's not just something you are cool with!' _I shook my head and ran a hand through my hair then flicked my pony tail again out of habit,_ 'Gandalf seems nice enough he _has _answered all of our questions we've had so far minus how we got here, but he did say there were people who might be able to tell us how we got here. But who is the guy who has to allow us to go?'_

I sighed and rubbed my temples, "Whatever."

* * *

We only walked for about another ten minutes on the dirt path through the trees when we came to a downward slope. At the bottom of the gradual slope was a rather large heard of shaggy ponies in every color from brown with white spots to solid black. From the way Sophie perked up I could tell she was rather excited to see the creatures. Along with the ponies there was a group of short but burley children. Most of them were wearing coats of fur, large boots, and they all seemed to have, weapons? Swords at their hips numerous axes strung across the back of each one, one or two spears, and one seemed to be messing around with a sling shot.

'_What are kids doing with ponies and weapons? Minus the sling shot that is not normal.' _I though in shock, _'But then again what has been normal about this whole day?' _I then ran to catch up with Sophie and Gandalf who had gotten quite a ways in front of me.

"Are those they guys you're leading to your friends house?" I asked my breath slightly hindered from the sudden burst of speed.

"Good of you to join us Caroline," Gandalf commented not even looking at me as he spoke, "And yes those are them, the dwarves of Erebor." He said with a grand air about his words.

"Dwarves?" I inquired.

"Ya Care real dwarves! If you'd been walking with us you'd have heard all about them. Apparently there's elves here too and other humans but they sound like us so nothing too exciting." Sophie clarified for me.

"Sounds wonderful." I mumbled. "Dwarves, elves, hobbits, what could possibly be next?" I say to the sky, Gandalf chuckled at that and I looked at him giving him an expression that clearly said 'there better not be anything more.'

Below us the 'dwarves' began waving frantically as if they thought we would pass right by them without stopping to lead them to Gandalf friend. But even from here I could see that some of them were quite confused as to why their guide had brought two girls along with him, non the less both Gandalf and Sophie waved back and I just folded my arms and kept walking.

"Well come along they've seen us and keeping a dwarf waiting isn't a very good idea even in the slightest." Gandalf said.

* * *

**A/N: Well here's chapter 3! I would have gotten it up sooner if school hadn't decided to bombard me with a preposterous ****amount of disclosures to sign and an absurd amount of more supplies to buy. But I got it done non-the less! And they are finally in Middle Earth! YAY! the dwarves will have much bigger part in the next chapter obviously which I will try to get out as soon as I can while still keeping up with my school work. As always review so I can know what to do better and see how you feel about the story! Thanks for reading!**


	4. Dinner with Dwarves

**Desclaimer: I do not own The Hobbit it belongs to the wonderful J R.R. Tolkien, who I thank dearly everyday for his amazing stories and brilliant characters.**

**Chapter 4 **

**Caroline P.O.V**

"And then she says, 'No I threw it off a cliff!'" Sophie said delivering the punch line of a joke she stole from our tenth grade English teacher. The eight dwarves surrounding her all burst out into laughter some repeating the line to get another laugh out of the joke.

This had been going on for the past half an hour or so while we walked back up the path. Sophie would tell a story or a joke then the dwarves would laugh. After that she would tell me to come join them and tell them about the time that I did something hilarious. Then I would glare at her and she would start another joke or story.

At first they had been quite suspicious of us, but then Gandalf assured them that 'Sophie and Caroline are capable and respectable young women, you needn't worry a single bit about them.' They seemed to just take some blind faith in him because the next thing I knew they were swarming us as we walked toward Gandalf's friend's house.

I had quickly moved to the back and let Sophie take her spot in the middle of the pack of dwarves; Gandalf was in front of us leading the way.

"Not to much further now," Gandalf called from up ahead, "It's just over this hill then up another."

"Good thing too," said the dwarf with the hat with its ear flaps flipped up, "Its already gone dark, and its well past the time we usually stop to have supper."

'_I like that one' _I thought, _ 'he has his priorities straight.' _And he was right; the sun had slowly dipped over the horizon to paint the sky with every color imaginable. Gandalf was also right; the Shire was a very beautiful place covered in rolling green hills with little houses imbedded into the sides and round vibrant doors tucked into them. It looked like a really nice place to live.

'_No wonder they live so far away from any other civilization. If anybody knew about this place they'd probably want to take it over to have it for their own.'_

"Thank goodness!" Sophie exclaimed, " I haven't had anything to eat since that granola bar."

The dwarves all looked at her slightly confused. "What's a _granola bar?_" asked the dwarf who was playing with the sling shot earlier.

"Um." Sophie said while she rubbed the back of her neck in thought, "Its oats, and nuts, and other stuff all baked into a bar."

"Really Soph?" I asked from behind, the dwarves turned and all gave me a surprised look after hearing my voice for the first time since we met. I rolled my eyes and urged them to continue walking seeing as they had stopped.

"What do you mean Care?" she asked innocently walking backwards down the hill

"You know what." I said giving her a glare.

Sophie pouted her lip out at me then took a deep breath, " A granola bar is a culinary invention from our world involving a variety of mixed nuts and grains including rolled oats and sometimes rice, often with dried fruits in the mix, it is usually baked until crisp with honey to create an adherent between the many ingredients. After the initial baking it can be left as a loose snack often times used for hiking due to its lightweight and high calorie count. It can also be combined to form a bar wrapped in a protective wrapper. There happy Care?"

I was about to answer with a snarky remark but Gandalf held up a hand, "Quiet." The wizard said from up ahead, "We're here."

Sitting in front us was a green circular door with a bonze doorknob sitting right in the middle. It was build inside a hill with a rather gnarled looking tree sitting smack on top, and inside a white picked fence I hadn't even noticed we'd walked through. From inside the small home we could hear quite a ruckus going on, raised voices and the clanking of metal.

Gandalf smiled and rang a small silver bell hanging from an elegantly curved piece of metal screwed into the frame of the circular door. _No, NO go away there's nobody home! Go bother somebody else! _We heard from behind the door from a clearly irritated voice.

"Well if nobody's home why is there a voice answering?" Asked Ori, but it could have been Dori or possibly Nori, they all had such rhymey names it was hard to keep track of who was who even with their crazy choice of beard styles.

"_There are far too many dwarves in my kitchen as it is! And if this is some, clotterd's idea of a joke Ha Ha" _The annoyed voice begun getting louder, but was still fairly muffled due to the round wooden door. The dwarves then leaned against the door to get a better ear full what was going on inside the house when suddenly it opened and they all toppled down on top of each other, Sophie sandwiched in between about three of them on the floor. I stood dumbfound from outside the door and Gandalf lent over to peer inside the house. Just inside the frame of the door stood an extremely sort man wearing a colorful robe with rather large and unnaturally harry feet. He looked quite exasperated and upon seeing Gandalf let out a loud sigh before saying, "Gandalf."

* * *

To say the poor 'hobbits' quite beautify house was in a complete uproar would be a prime contender for 'Biggest Understatement of the Year'. Everywhere there were dwarves carrying anything from long strands of hot dogs, plates of assorted vegetables, even a barrel of something I don't even want to know about. And right in the middle of it was Mr. Bilbo Baggins. He was trying his very best to keep any sense of order in his cramped house, even telling one of them to put an antique chair that was 'not for sitting on' back where he found it.

Of course while all of this was going on Sophie and Gandalf were happily going along with the charade smiling and encouraging the dwarves as they raided Bilbo's pantry. Sophie had seated herself on one side of the table that the dwarves had moved into a hall in order to make room for everybody present and looked content to just watch the chaos ensue around her. Gandalf was no better and was just smiling as dwarves passed by him making sure to say their names as they walked by him, nocking the low hanging chandelier in the process. His fingers twitching up to keep count of the many bodies moving around him.

I was currently sitting across from my brunette friend wide eyed as I watched the hobbit wrestle a bowl of tomatoes from the hands of a dwarf wearing several pieces of knitted clothing.

"This is insane." I whisper over the table to Sophie as dwarves all around me placed plate of food piled high onto the counter. She snapped her head away from the scene going on around us and just smiled.

"But it's not something you see everyday that's for sure." She said smiling back.

Gandalf was listening to a black and grey haired dwarf with what I thing is an axe imbedded in his head. The dwarf said some words in a different language then grasped his left arm with his burly right hand. "Yes you are quite right Bifur, we seem to be one dwarf short." He muttered.

"Oh great just another member coming to the party." I grumbled.

"Come on Care! The more the merrier!" Sophie shot back to me some of the dwarves roared a cheer of agreement then went back to gathering food for our late night feast. I just glared at her and put my chin in my palm. And that's when _they _entered the scene. Two rather young looking dwarves carrying that barrel of something I saw not only five minutes before. One with hardly a beard at all and only a bit of charcoal scruff around his face with long equally black hair falling over his joyful expression. He had a wide grin and a surprisingly sweet laugh.

Smirking I turned to Sophie to see she was looking at them too, only she had her eye on the golden haired one. He looked a bit older than the black haired one and was sporting a mustache braided down the sides to meet a small beard not nearly as wild as the rest of his dwarf companions. His hair was much longer than the others and swept behind his shoulders sawing quite nicely as he hefted the barrel onto the table. Sophie sighed and continued to look for another few moments before I kicked her leg from under the table bringing her our of her dwarf induced trance.

"Indeed." Said the large bald dwarf to Sophie, aiding in bringing her out of her daze, then turned to Gandalf, " He is late is all. He traveled north to a meeting of our kin. He will come."

Gandalf seemed content with the bouncer Dwarfs anwser and turned making sure to avoid the chandelier to be met with a dwarf carrying a small, and I mean minuscule, glass of red liquid. I caught the words 'fruity bouquet' _'at least he can't get drunk with that small amount of alcohol.' _Gandalf tipped the cup into his mouth and the liquid disappeared in an instant. The old man then looked into the cup and gave it a disappointed stare.

By now the surface of the dark wood tale could no longer be seen underneath the mounds of food that the dwarves had piled onto it. Everything in the house must have been on the table: vegetables, fruits, cheeses, meats, pies, desserts, and a couple of dishes I couldn't even put a name to all decorated the tables surface.

"Well I say we dig in lads!' yelled the red haired dwarf with a suspiciously Scottish accent, the rest of them cheered and all took up seats around Sophie and I.

Hands went flying in every direction grabbing for everything and anything, Sophie joined right in and didn't seem to mind getting scraps of food on the floor or on her. I decided to settle for a plate of sliced cucumbers in front of me, and a rogue roll that had flown at my face I'd managed to catch after fumbling with its incoming.

"Oi!" A voice yelled into my ear, "You've got long arms see if you can reach that plate of ham in the middle there!" I looked up from my cucumbers to see none other than the golden haired dwarf sitting to my right eyeing the plate of meat. I studied him or a moment before he made a motion toward the plate. Sighing I reached over the other piles of food to reach the ham, then brought I back so he and the black haired one could take it from me. "Thanks lass!"

From the other end of the table I heard a cheerful voice yell, "Bombur! Catch!"

I looked over just in time to see the one with the hat I'm pretty sure who's name is Bofur throw a perfect boiled egg into the air, hang there for a moment, then land in the mouth of the dwarf with a large doughnut braid draping across his chest. A roar of cheers erupted and Sophie let out a small cheer as well. My head dipped down to my cucumbers again and I let out a small grin at the skill that had just been displayed then slipped a few slices of the green vegetable into my mouth.

"Care!" Sophie gasped from across the table, "I think that's the first time you've even smiled a little since we left that tree!" The grin disappeared and I continued to chew my food once again giving Sophie a deadpan glare, the blonde dwarf beside me turned back to me.

"You know," he started "You kind of remind me of my uncle Thorin." He said.

I swallowed and raised an eyebrow, "Oh? Do elaborate." I said, _'please do' _I thought _'you've known me all of five seconds so excuse me if I find that to be incoherently false.'_

"Ya." The other one said draping an arm over the others shoulders, " I can see it Fili, sort of grumpy and stone faced, but not too much so that a smile doesn't come through on occasion!" the group burst out in laughter at that. Sophie's laughter could be heard far above the others this time.

"Wow! You hit that one on the head!" she announced as she grabbed her sides, " A perfect description!"

The laughter continued and I slumped down on my seat eating another slice of cucumber.

"I say another ale to that!" somebody yelled and another round of cheers sounded, they all raided their tankards and began to chug. It was probably the quietest I had heard the house that entire night. The only sound was the gulping and splattering of beer running through the beards of the drinkers. This went on for a good twenty seconds of solid drinking. _'Impressive' _I thought, _'It make me wonder how many times they've done something like this.' _

The silence ended and a few of them let out burps, each one more notable than the last until the small one with the He-Man hair cut let out the longest and loudest belch I had ever heard in my entire life. I looked at him wide-eyed and glancing over at Sophie I saw she wore the same expression I did. Goldie locks must have noticed because he was giving us both a concerned look before taking action.

"Now come on lads there's ladies present." He scolded, "Can we not show them the cordiality of dwarves?"

The group instantly calmed down quite a bit until the bald one finally asked the question I had been waiting for all night, "And why are these _ladies_ here Gandalf?"

As one every head including my own turned to the end of the table where Gandalf had seated himself. He seemed to struggle with coming up with an answer and let out a wheezing sigh.

"Yes _Gandalf_," I said stressing his name, " Why are Sophie and I here?"

All heads in the room turned to look at the grey-faced man. He looked back at us and opened and closed his mouth as if he was trying to gather his words, "Well you see um." The old man sighed and placed his hands on the table, his fingers all laced together to form one big fist.

"Caroline and Sophie are here, I believe, to aid us in our quest." He said, "Already I've seen their honesty and heard grand stories of their skills."

I glanced over at Sophie who seemed to sense my look and shrunk into her seat with a terribly forces grin, _what did you tell him when I was brooding Soph?_

Gandalf cleared his throat and brought my attention back to him, "However that is for them and our dearly late leader to decide. I am simply here to offer my opinion in the matter."

"Right straight ye are," grumbled the bald tattooed dwarf, "Thorin will never let two young and untrained girls on this mission, far to dangerous."

The dwarfs around the table muttering and nodding to each other in agreement.

"Dwalin's right they cant be more that twenty years, hardly old enough even by human standards."

"Miss Sophie is too kind to do what we might have to do."

"Yes much to dangerous for delicate girls."

Sophie seemed to shrink further into her seat as the dwarves around us debated upon our worth. As the muttering continued I pursed my lips together and beneath the table my hands were clenched into a fist, the tips of my nails digging into the skin.

The two seated beside me, Fili and Kili I think, started to see my seething anger and went silent giving the other dwarves looks trying to get them to stop as well. My breathing was beginning to get haggard; Sophie tried to reach across the table to grasp my arm but was hindered by the mountain of food between her and myself.

Finally I had enough of their comments, I slammed my hands down on the table, causing several items to bounce and roll off the table, and stood up as tall as the undersized ceiling would allow leaving me hunched over the table a bit.

"Shut up," I growled, "You don't know anything about Sophie or me, so how dare you tell us were too 'kind' or 'delicate' to go on this _quest_, not that I even want to go with you but it really pisses me off when people make up things based on my gender. So if you would kindly drop this subject _now, _because I would really hate to have to put an arrow through somebody's eye tonight."

I scanned the small room looking into the eyes of each person in the space. Some were utterly terrified; while others had a glint of something else I couldn't put my finger on. Finally my eyes landed on Sophie who was wearing a slight smile, but sill looked a bit scared from my monologue.

From the corner of my eye I saw the blonde dwarf lean over to his brother and whisper something in his ear, the darker haired one nodded. I flashed them a scowl and let out a curt 'tch' and stepped out of the bench I had been sitting on.

"If you'll excuse me," I muttered as I shuffled behind the other dwarves to get to the round hall way unhindered by bodies. I let out a breath of air and made my way to what I guess hobbits would call a parlor that I had seen earlier. I scanned the room and concluded that there was no way I was going fit in any of the luxurious pieces of furniture, so I settled for a spot near the window I could sit underneath and rest my arm on the small seat situated under it.

From down the hall I could hear the shuffling of feet and Sophie's soft voice making small conversation, most likely trying to excuse my out burst and attempting to convince them I wasn't some angry condescending person.

"Good luck Soph," I whispered to myself as I fiddled with one of the soft golden tassels sewn onto the pillows resting of the window perch.

After a while of the awkward shuffling and the voices of the dwarves started to pick up again this time coming from the once neat and orderly kitchen I had passed on my march to the parlor. The voices started to become louder and slightly more musical, not only that but I could swear I heard the tapping of plates on one another combined with the pounding of silverware on a table.

"What are they up to now?" I asked my self, as I craned my just enough to see into the kitchen. Inside the dwarves where singing something about things poor old Bilbo hates while flinging his plates, silverware, and crystal glasses every which way. My mouth hung open as I watch the display of musical, throwing and catching abilities. The dwarves were actually quite musically inclined and I hadn't seen, or heard, a single piece of dinner wear shatter onto the wood floor.

I cracked a smile and turned back to look out the window just in time to see another dwarvish figure taking heavy precise steps up to the front door. It looked to be a bit taller than the other dwarves and seemed to be tired despite the way it was striding to the door.

"This must be the person we've been waiting for." I decided, not a second later three sharp loud knocks rang through the halls of Bilbo's house. The happy laughter from the other room instantly died down even faster that it had when I had yelled at them.

Even from the other room I could hear Gandalf say, "He's here." 

* * *

**Sophie P.O.V**

As soon as Ballin said that this quest they were going of was too dangerous for us 'untrained' girls I knew Caroline was going to be pissed. I didn't even have to look at her to know her face was probably contorted with rage and that beneath the table her nails were digging crescents into her palm. The others started to join in with their own opinions; I started to hunch over in my seat trying to become smaller.

I glanced up at Caroline to not only see her face warped in anger but that she was breathing quite hevily, _she's going to give them an earful any second now _I thought as I watched her chest rise and fall quicker and quicker every second.

_I have to do something before she ruins our chances of getting to the elves. _ I tried to reach across the table to grab her bicep in an attempt to calm her down. I stretched as far at I could but with all the food piled high on the table there was no way I could reach over it to Caroline.

Suddenly Caroline had had enough, she slammed her palms o the table and without thinking I pulled back bringing my hand to my chest.

"Shut up," she growled, "You don't know anything about Sophie or me, so how dare you tell us were too 'kind' or 'delicate' to go on this _quest_, not that I even want to go with you but it really pisses me off when people make up things based on my gender. So if you would kindly drop this subject _now, _because I would really hate to have to put an arrow through somebody's eye tonight."

Caroline looked like a wild animal, her eyes filled with an anger I hadn't seen since we were kids on the playground. She bared her teeth and looked at everyone in the room, it was dead quiet and nobody dared to look away from my scary best friend. Finally her eyes landed on me and I put on a small smile trying to some how calm or comfort her in some way.

My blonde bestie made one of her famous 'tch' sounds I had grown so fond of then shuffled her way out of the tight dining quarters to the hall of Mr. Baggins cozy house.

"If you'll excuse me," Caroline growled then made her way out of my sighed into some other corner of the house.

The dwarves were silent for a while before Bofur adjusted his hat and cleared his throat, "Well I think it's about time we clear this place before Thorin gets here."

I smiled, "Good thinking Bofur, and I'm sorry about Caroline everybody she can be a bit mean sometimes but she's really a nice person I promise."

Everybody nodded some of the smiling back at me then started to make their way out of the dining room, I decided to shuffle out along with them to see what I could help with.

The kitchen was only in the room next to the dining room so it only took a few of my long strides to get there. When I walked in I spotted Nori with an impressive chain of sausages wrapped around his shoulders and neck like a scarf, a giggle escaped my lips. Bofur came up from behind him and snagged right off his shoulders, which made my giggling even louder that I had to put ha had over my mouth to muffle the sound.

Just then a small body pushed past me into the kitchen, "Oh excuse me Miss Sophie."

"That's ok, um-" I responded while rubbing the back of my neck.

"That ones Ori." A baritone voice said from bides me.

I jumped a bit to see Fili leaning on the doorframe next to me, "Oh thank you."

I turned back to the kitchen to see little Ori walk right up to Mr. Baggins, who was currently argueing with Gandals, and held his plate in front of him like a child would do.

"Excuse me." He started, "I'm sorry to interrupt but what should U do with my plate?"

_Good question, _I thought, _with all these dirty dishes I'm not even sure an army of happy lunch ladies could clean it all up._

I felt a nudge at my side, "Watch this," Fili said to me v=before waling up to Ori and taking the plate out of his hands.

"Here you go, Ori, give it to me." He said with a grin, the with a slight head turn to see if I was watching he _tossed,_ literally just threw a very expensive plate across the room to his brother who caught it with one hand. Kili then threw the plate _behind his back_ to Bifur who caught the make shift Frisbee behind his back with out looking like he had a second pair of eyes in the back of his head. More and more plates began to fly though the air from every which direction, but they all managed to get back to the sink scratch free to get cleaned. Gandalf was laughing and dodging the occasional dinner wear. I started to laugh right along with him and backed into the hallway wall to avoid any and hopefully all flying dishes.

From inside the kitchen I hear Mr. Baggins shout something about the 'cookery being over a hundred years old.'

That just caused the remaining dwarves still at he table to start drumming on the table with the forks and knives.

"Can-Can you not do that? You'll blunt them!" Mr. Baggins shouted.

More laughter sounded from the dining room, I didn't catch what was said next but I sure did hear Kili's already familiar voice begin improve a cheerful tune that soon had everybody singing along like it was some kind of High School Musical scene.

"If there's choreography too I think I can die a happy woman!" I laughed to myself as I began to clap along with the dwarves tune.

In no time all the dishes were stacked in two swaying towers flanking the sink. I saw Mr. Baggins rush in and from the dropping of his tense shoulders I could tell he was at least a little bit at peace considering his hundred year old dining set was still in tacked.

Everybody continues to laugh, and by now my sides are beginning to ache. That's when three loud knocks from the door sound through the halls from the front door.

Suddenly all the laughter that was in the kitchen died instantly, I looked to Gandalf and he looked back to me.

"He's here." Was all the grey old mad said before he started to make his way to the round front door, everyone trailing close behind him. 

* * *

…**I have no excuse to why this chapter is so insanely ridiculously late other than school sucks, I am lazy, NaNoWriMo has been kicking my butt, and Peru is a wonderful yet awful place I never want to visit again. But hey at least I updated right? Yes Yes I know I am a terrible person for making all six of you wait but I hope you enjoyed it and as always keep reading and even leave a review if you want you don't have to but that would be awesome…. shameless self bad joke at the beginning absolutely no excuse for that one other than I really did steal it from my 10th grade English teacher. Anyway I hope everybody had a nice Thanksgiving! Hopefully I'll have another one up before Christmas but I make no promises.**


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